26-11-2009

FNE VISEGRAD Country Focus: Impact of the financial crisis on Polish film

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    While the global financial crisis is affecting film production, 2009 is shaping up to be a record year for Polish distribution, with over 31.5 m admissions to date.
    In 2008 total admissions were 34.1 m, with a significant increase in December.The effects of the crisis on film production are expected to be felt in 2010.

    "Undoubtedly there has been a decrease of funds for film production from private entities." Anna Godzisz, the official spokesperson for the Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.pl) told FNE.

    Polish public broadcaster Telewizja Polska S.A. (http://www.tvp.pl/) has reduced its film production budget drastically from a planned 27m PLN to about 5m PLN.

    In 2009 as producers faced budget problems, as PISF can only finance up to 50% of the production (maximum of 6 million PLN for coproduction projects). PISF has by increasing the average amount of its grants per production. The average grant for a feature film in 2009 was 2.6 m PLN, while in 2008 it was 2.1 million PLN.